Ladbrokes World Championship: Lewis to tread same glory path

Adrian Lewis can count himself slightly fortunate to still be alive in the defence of his Ladbrokes World Championship, but he can make smooth progress into the third round at the expense of Robert Thornton.

Lewis had to battle back from two sets down to beat Nigel Heydon in his opener and struggle through the irritation of a wasp sting, but should have shaken off any nerves present as he defends his crown.

Elsewhere, in the first batch of second round matches at Alexandra Palace, Wayne Jones and Justin Pipe are fancied to continue their progress through the tournament.

Wayne Jones to beat Roland Scholten @ 3/10

Jones has consistently been reaching the latter stages of tournaments of late and has triumphed in his past three meetings with Scholten.

The Dutchman is still being troubled by a shoulder injury that has hindered him for the past few seasons and despite scoring a number of 180s in his opening round victory over Jamie Caven, his three-dart average was still fairly low at just under 84.

A repeat of this performance against Jones will put him in big trouble.

Adrian Lewis to beat Robert Thornton @ 1/6

Lewis has won all of his last five showdowns with Thornton, which includes a victory in the last 16 of the Ladbrokes World Championship last year.

Meanwhile, Thornton missed a lot of tournament play over the summer because of a bout of pneumonia and therefore may stil be shy of his best form, which will be required to beat Lewis.

Justin Pipe to beat Wes Newton @ 12/5

Pipe is one of the form players on the darts map at present, reaching three finals in November and could be one of the dark horses for overall victory.

He will also have revenge on his mind after two defeats to Newton this year already.